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Marray targets Davis Cup spot

Wimbledon champion Jonny Marray is targeting a Davis Cup debut for Great Britain in 2013.

The British star sprang to prominence with his stunning victory alongside Dane Freddie Nielsen back in the summer but despite having a Grand Slam title on his CV has yet to represent his country in the team competition.

The established pairing of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins have played - and won - the doubles rubber in GB's last three ties, so Marray knows he faces a tough battle to win a place in the line-up.

However, he is up for the challenge.

"Davis Cup is definitely something I want to be involved in," he told sportinglife.com. "But Colin and Ross are an incredibly strong set-up and had a great year.

"They just missed out on the (ATP World Tour Finals at the) O2, so it's going to be tough to break into that. They are an established team together.

"But it's something that's a goal of mine - to be involved in that and play for my country."

GB's next tie will be at home to Russia in April and Marray will get the chance to impress Davis Cup captain Leon Smith at the LTA's new winter training base at La Manga in Spain this week.

Marray heads out on Monday to join other British stars - including Fleming and Hutchins - at the training camp where he will look to improve specific areas on his game before returning to complete his pre-season in his home city of Sheffield.

He will then fly to Doha on Boxing Day for the opening ATP tournament of the season, where he is playing with German Dustin Brown.

From the Middle East, Marray will head Down Under where he will play in the Australian Open with Brazilian Andre Sa, his partnership with Nielsen having ended with the Dane looking to focus on singles in 2013.

Marray scraped in the Australian Open draw last season but has no such worries this time around, with his world ranking now inside the top 20.

And, speaking on a visit to the David Lloyd York club where he took part in some coaching sessions with members, the 31-year-old admits it is an "exciting" time as he prepares to compete in other big tournaments, such as the Masters Series in Indian Wells and Miami, in the coming months.

"This time last year I was looking at Challenger level and had very few opportunities to play in Tour events," Marray added.

"It's exciting for me to play in these big tournaments - it's been a long-term goal.

"There are always goals set. I want to be playing in the best tournaments and competing with the best.

"I also have performance goals but don't really set goals of winning certain tournaments or getting a certain ranking.

"This time last year if you'd have said I'd be 17th now I'd have been thrilled with it. We'll see where I can go from here."